Football Notes: UEFA Fines Celtic, PSG, Basel For Crowd Conduct During Champions League

October 24, 2017

UEFA fined Celtic and Paris St. Germain for "crowd trouble" after last month's Champions League game between the teams. UEFA's Control, Ethics & Disciplinary Body fined Celtic €10,000 ($11,743) for "field invasion" after a supporter "ran onto the pitch and attempted to kick" PSG striker Kylian Mbappé during the Group B opener. PSG was fined €5,000 ($5,871) for "acts of damage" after visiting supporters broke seats at Celtic Park. Meanwhile, Swiss side Basel was fined €12,000 ($14,092) after supporters "set off fireworks" last month in its Group A game against ManU at Old Trafford (REUTERS, 10/23).

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation is "planning to boost its preparations" for the 2018 World Cup by "loaning out as many members of the national team as possible to European clubs" in the January transfer window to gain top-level experience. The General Sports Authority and SAFF last week signed a deal with La Liga in a "bid to take football in Saudi Arabia to the net level" (ARAB NEWS, 10/23).

Korea FA VP Kim Ho-gon was "grilled by lawmakers" in a parliamentary audit session over "national team coaching issues" regarding former men's national team head coach Guus Hiddink. Kim was "called to the witness stand" for the National Assembly's Education, Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee audit session and "apologized for the Hiddink controversy that has shaken" the Korean football community (YONHAP, 10/23).

Tottenham "broke the 10-year-old Premier League attendance record" in Sunday's 4-1 win against Liverpool at Wembley. The attendance of 80,827 "surpassed the previous record" of 76,098 -- set when ManU beat Blackburn 4-1 at Old Trafford in '07. It was still "someway short" of the club record of 85,512, set at Wembley against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last season, which is also a "record attendance for a British club at home" (ESPN.com, 10/22).